HE HAS 14 INJURIES but 15 points, three wins from three in the URC, so Dan McFarland’s mood was positive after tonight’s 28-7 win over Benetton.

So it should be. While the performance was imperfect, the game a hard enough watch, the victory had its merits, a third bonus point win on the trot backed up by a number of young players making their mark.

“I’m really happy with the result,” said McFarland. “We had a lot of injuries, and were hosting a team who had won six on bounce, a team that had always caused us trouble in Belfast; so keeping them to one try, getting our bonus point win, is a credit to the effort the lads they put in.”

Hard work and effort is what you always get from Rob Herring. The hooker won his 200th Ulster cap tonight, getting a try to cap it off.

“It was a great night for him,” said Herring. “He had his family here and 200 caps, look it is a tremendous milestone. This old sport takes a big toll on your body when you play professional rugby. Rob is a great member of our organisation, is very passionate about Ulster, passionate about the people here, you see that every day when he comes to work

“He is a driver for us, a Test player, a good player.”

Ulster second row, Sam Carter, added: “To play 200 games in a contact sport like rugby is unbelievable, it is a feather to put on his cap.”

McFarland, meanwhile, was being asked about Ulster’s performances which have been reasonable without touching great heights, the results essentially being better than the performances.

“It is really funny in Ireland,” said McFarland, “as the tendency for questions is, ‘could it be better?’ The bottom line is we have beaten one of unbeaten teams, we have been disrupted by injury. Was I expecting a better performance? Probably not, but considering the type of opposition, one filled with Italian internationals, we had a bonus point win over a tough team who we have struggled to get past in previous years.

“If you’d asked me would I have taken that result, this morning, then 100 per cent, I would.”